By Victor Christopher
For decades, the Wailari and Kwarin Goje communities in the Kumbotso local government area of Kano State have been grappling with yearly gully erosion. The erosion has divided the community’s landscape into two.
During the rainy season, residents often fear property loss, leading to some becoming internally displaced.
In July 2020, two siblings, Ibrahim Sani and Muhammadu Sani, residents of Kwarin Goje, suddenly disappeared after a rainfall. Hours later, Sani’s lifeless body was discovered inside a gully.
The two brothers were swept away by flood following a heavy downpour. Muhammadu was rescued thereafter, while Ibrahim was not fortunate; he was found dead.
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Their father, Muhammad Sani Sa’idu, recounted the ugly incident while speaking with Grassroots Parrot on Tuesday, explaining that Ibrahim died before they could get to the hospital.
“On that day, they were just passing through; unfortunately, they fell inside the mound and it covered them. The elder brother survived it, but the younger one died before we reached the hospital,” he said.
Also, Manir Lawan Ibrahim, his wife, and their newborn’s baby—were rescued after their 3-bedroom apartment collapsed during a heavy downpour, recently.
“After the heavy rain that day, I saw many people at the front of my house shortly when the building collapsed. They had to pull down the fence to save me and my family.
“I’m currently staying in a rented house until I get a better place. The government should do something about this.” He lamented.
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Another displaced landlord in Wailari Gari in Kumbotso LGA, Umar Jubril is squatting at his elder brother’s house after the flood destroyed his six-bedroom flats.
“That’s my house (pointing for this reporter). All six rooms were gone. This is really painful. My family and I stayed with my neighbors before I moved out to stay with my elder brother”. He said.
Kamisu Abdullahi Usman, the community leader, said the level of damage caused by the gully erosion is currently threatening the only bridge that links other neighbouring communities.
“This is the only bridge that links us together with other neighboring communities, but just take a look at its conditions now, if nothing is done, it will fall like these other houses.” He said.
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During his visit, our correspondent observed that some new structures have been pulled down by the erosion, while some ongoing building construction were washed away.
Also, the gully erosion is affecting farmers in the communities, who solely depend on the farmlands to feed their families.
In 2007, the Kano State Government constructed a single carriage road from Yanlemo to Gurun Gawa to improve economic activities in the community.
Unfortunately, the construction was substandard, and it lacked proper drainage, making the location a death trap for locals.
Commenting, Lawan Bagobori, a representative of the Ward Head of Wailari Gari, lamented that they had documented their complaint before the state government but to no avail. He called on the government to come to their aid.
“We have documented our plight with relevant authorities. The number of the affected residents is huge, some have even left the area because of this situation. We want the government to come to our rescue.” He said.
Kano State Watershed, Erosion, and Climate Change Management Agency – an agency under the state ministry of environment – is saddled with the responsibility of managing ecological challenges in the state.
Executive Secretary of the agency, Muhammad Kalil, said he is aware of the situation of the embattled communities, assuring me that all necessary steps would be taken to address the problem.
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Dr. Kalil also revealed that the agency had visited all 44 local government areas of the state to assess the root cause of the erosion and other ecological challenges.
According to him, sand mining is one of the major causes of erosion in the state. He said the agency organized a sensitization program with community leaders on the dangers of sand mining to curb erosion.
Dr. Kalil, however, said the agency would soon complete two major erosion projects in Bachirawa and Riyiyar Zaki after receiving official complaints from residents in the areas.
The Kano Water Shed, Erosion, and Climate Change Management Agency’s 2024 budget is 1,300,000,000, but the agency did not receive any funds between January and June 2024.
According to the 2024 budget performance report published by the official website of the state ministry of budget and planning, recorded zero funds in the first two quarters of the year.
In this regard, the residents of the affected communities appealed to the state government to prioritize the release of the agency’s budget so as to address the ecological challenges in the areas and other parts of the state.